Journalist; Historian; Biographer; and Anti-suffragist. Papers are primarily related to her professional life, focusing on her time as assistant editor at McClure's and on her writings about Abraham Lincoln. There is also a small amount of material regarding her anti-suffrage views. Types of material include correspondence, memorabilia, journal and newspaper articles, published and unpublished writings, and a photograph.

Terms of Access and Use:

Restrictions on access:

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.

Restrictions on use:

The copyright owner of this collection is unknown. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must be obtained from the holders of the copyright.

Sophia Smith CollectionSmith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Biographical Note

Ida Minerva Tarbell was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania on 5 November 1857, the daughter of Esther Ann McCullough and Franklin Sumner Tarbell. She attended local public schools and graduated from Allegheny College in 1880, the sole woman of her class.

Ida M. Tarbell, undated

She taught for a few years at Poland Union Seminary, in Poland, Ohio, and worked for The Chatauquan, a home-study teaching guide based in Meadville, Pennsylvania from 1883 to 1891. She left her job, traveling to Paris to study the role of women in the French Revolution. While there, she supported herself by writing occasional articles for Scribner's magazine and by 1892, McClure's, including a series of articles on Napoleon Bonaparte that was published in book form in 1895. She also wrote biographies of Madame Roland (1896) and Abraham Lincoln (1900), but remains best known for her scathing expose, The History of Standard Oil (1904). She was an assistant editor of McClure's from 1894 to 1906. She was one of a group of investigative journalists (dubbed "muckrakers" by Theodore Roosevelt) who owned and edited the American Magazine from 1906 to 1915. She then lectured on the Chautauqua circuit until 1932, speaking on a variety of topics and occasionally writing articles for magazines.

Though a supporter of women's rights early in her career, she did not support women's suffrage, a position that caused friction between her and those she worked with on a variety of causes. She suffered from Parkinson's disease in her later years and died in Bridgeport, Connecticut on 6 January 1944.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Ida Tarbell Papers consist of 1 linear foot and are primarily related to her professional life, dating from 1896 to 1943. The bulk of the papers date from 1896 to 1912, and focus on her time as assistant editor at McClure's and on her writings about Abraham Lincoln. There is also a small amount of material regarding her anti-suffrage views. Types of material include correspondence, memorabilia, journal and newspaper articles, published and unpublished writings, and a photograph. The papers are arranged in three series:

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.

Restrictions on use:

The copyright owner of this collection is unknown. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must be obtained from the holders of the copyright.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Dorothy P. Huntington and the heirs of John Sanborn Phillips donated his materials related to Ida Tarbell to the Sophia Smith Collection in 1958. All in the Day's Work, Tarbell's autobiography, was purchased in 1996.

This series provides a glimpse at Tarbell's personal and professional life, including newspaper articles; advertisements; and memorabilia promoting her work, her activities, and her opinions on women's rights and roles. Also included in this series is a photograph of Tarbell, and her published autobiography.

This series comprises the bulk of the collection and includes correspondence of a mostly professional nature. Most of the material focuses on Tarbell's work at McClure's and her research for her Lincoln biography. Carbon copies of Tarbell's responses to correspondents can be found within much of the general correspondence. Notable correspondents include Albert Augustus Boyden, John McCann Davis, Nancy Hanks Hitchcock, and John S. Phillips, as well as a variety of political figures and acquaintances of Abraham Lincoln. The correspondence is arranged chronologically except for the letters in the general correspondence subseries, which is first arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically within each individual's letters. The business letters of 1896-97 have been removed from a bound book and photocopied. [Note: A letter written to John S. Phillips regarding Tarbell's anti-suffrage views has been missing since 1977.]

This series includes published articles by Tarbell on the subject of women's suffrage and the role of women in war. An unpublished article about Charles Brower's experience rescuing whalers is also included. The materials are arranged chronologically.

Contents List

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS

Newspaper clippings,

1912-42, n.d.

Box 1: folder 1

Memorabilia, women journalists postage stamp, and photograph,

1913-2002, n.d.

Box 1: folder 2

All in the Day's Work: An Autobiography,

1939

Typescript excerpt

Box 1: folder 3

Book

Box 1: folder 4

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE

General, A-Z,

1892-1911, n.d.

Box 1: folder 5-12

Individuals

Boyden, Albert,

1905-12, n.d.

Box 1: folder 13

Davis, J. McCan,

1898-1900

Box 1: folder 14

Phillips, John S.,

1910-43

Box 1: folder 15

Taylor Society,[copies from Allegheny College]

1919-32

Box 1: folder 16

Business letters,

1896-97

Index

Box 2: folder 1

Mar-Feb 1897

Box 2: folder 2-19

SERIES III. WRITINGS

Published

Miscellaneous articles,

1912-39

Box 2: folder 20

The Business of Being a Woman: partial typescript and reviews,[copies from Allegheny College]

1912

Box 2: folder 21

Unpublished

Herbert Hoover,[copies from Allegheny College]

1917-28, n.d.

Box 2: folder 22

"Account of whalers caught in arctic ice and the heroism of their rescuer, Charles D. Brower," [author unknown],

n.d.

Box 2: folder 23

Search Terms

The following terms represent persons, organizations, and topics documented in this collection. Use these headings to search for additional materials on this web site, in the Five College Library Catalog, or in other library catalogs and databases.